Jennifer Benanti

Jennifer Benanti is a Professor at UMass Chan Medical School, affiliated with the T.H. Chan School of Medicine. Her research spans multiple departments including Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, and Systems Biology.

Education:

• BS in Biochemistry & Cell Biology, University of California, San Diego (1996)
• PhD in Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of Washington (2003)

Dr. Benanti's research focuses on integrating transcriptional, proteolytic, and phosphorylation mechanisms to understand the robustness of the cell cycle regulatory network. Her work has significant implications for cancer therapy by identifying targets for proliferation inhibition.

Research Trends: Recent publications highlight her lab's work on phosphorylation code complexity (2023), stress response mechanisms (2024), and multisite phosphorylation analysis (2025). Her team explores how CDK substrates impact cellular physiology (2022) and develops innovative methods to study phosphorylation sites (2023).

Awards & Honors:

• 2011 Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research
• Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fellowship (2004-2010)
• NIH Pathway to Independence Award (2004-2010)

Lab Leadership: Her lab has mentored numerous graduate students and postdocs, including Michelle Conti (2023) and Mackenzie Flynn (2024). Recent additions include Ben Godbout (2024) and Sujiraporn Pakchuen (2023).